ISIS kills five Hezbollah-linked fighters in Syria: war monitor
The clashes come amid reports of an ISIS resurgence in Syria as well as an increase in activity in Europe.
The Islamic State killed five Hezbollah-affiliated fighters in Syria, a war monitor said on Sunday, in the latest sign of the group’s resurgence.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported five “members of the Syrian Resistance that is affiliated [with] the Lebanese Hezbollah” were ambushed by ISIS cells in the desert area between Ithriya and Khanaser in the central Hama province. SOHR added that an unspecified number of Hezbollah-linked fighters were also injured.
Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian government fighters often refer to themselves as “the resistance.”
SOHR did not specify when the attack occurred.
In another incident, three members of the pro-government National Defense Forces were injured in an attack in the al-Tabni desert area in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province. The perpetrators were “gunmen believed to be of ISIS cells,” according to SOHR.
Why it matters: There have been reports of a possible ISIS resurgence in Syria in 2024. Head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces Mazlum Kobane told Al-Monitor in April, “I believe that the conditions for an ISIS resurgence that would restore it to its former strength continue to exist.”
Kobane added that the Gaza war has “boosted” ISIS, saying the US-led coalition has been distracted by the conflict. The US supports the Kurdish-led SDF against ISIS in northeast Syria.
The group’s attacks are on pace to more than double this year. ISIS claimed 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria in the first half of 2024, compared to 121 attacks in the two countries in all of 2023, The Associated Press reported in July.
Know more: The uptick in Syria is occurring amid a flurry of ISIS attacks in Europe. The group’s Khorasan branch has been behind a number of incidents on the continent and is taking advantage of anger over the Gaza war, Al-Monitor reported last week.
